


ĠЯłMßЯξД†Ħ

by Gem_Alawas



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Aspect abilities, Broodfester Tongues, Creepy Narrator, Gen, Grimdark, Insanity, Mind Break (maybe), Mind Control, Purple Prose, Retcon Powers, Sort Of, grimdark John Egbert, loss of selfhood, migranes, torture if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 07:11:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19080058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gem_Alawas/pseuds/Gem_Alawas
Summary: On Derse, just before the final battle, The Condesce has an idea of how to take John out of commission. Unfortunately for her and everyone else, the Horrorterrors she tried to employ have other ideas.This was done as a gift for this cool person (http://aminoapps.com/p/djzgxt) who gave me the idea. Special thanks to Corvid_Knight for having an easy pesterlog tutorial on their Tumblr, saved me quite a bit of time and trouble.





	ĠЯłMßЯξД†Ħ

It began, as many things do, with a stage. Set on the purple grounds of Derse, a trio of children of two different species squared off against the greatest terror the mankind of Earth-Alpha had ever known. Her Imperious Condescension stood tall, towering over Rose Lalonde, Roxy Lalonde, and Kanaya Maryam, the kids who would soon oppose her. The atmosphere was rife with tension – any moment it seemed, one would twitch and an all-out fight to the death would ensue. However, there was one missing, and all four were well aware of it. He had left to ferry the others to the locations of their battles, but he had not returned. All of the three children worried about what took him so long, but Rose Lalonde, Seer of Light, was concerned most of all.

A horrible feeling lurked in her bones, seemingly brought about by the grotesque smile worn by the Condesce. She knew that something was wrong, something was not what it seemed, but she had no idea what it could be. All the intuition natural to her Class, natural to her Aspect, only told her that things were wrong. To be ready. At last, the Condesce moved, lifting the 2x3dent-free out of her two ebony hands to lightly place her fingers at her temple, smile somehow widening further than it already had. A faint blue glow formed around her horns, casting cerulean highlights on her hair. Rose tensed, lifting her weapons – a pair of knitting needles used as wands – into a position somehow even more battle-ready than they had been a moment earlier.

She flicked her gaze to her lover and hopefully fiancé-to-be Kanaya, wondering if the Empress had decided to employ her mind-controlling powers to turn the Jade-blood against her allies, but Kanaya showed no sign of manipulation. If anything, the rainbow drinker stood more stalwartly against her Fuchsia foe, revving her chainsaw threateningly. Whatever the Condesce was doing, Kanaya wasn’t the target. That was when a bolt of raw knowledge struck Rose harshly enough to physically stagger her, a bolt of pain striking through her head. John. John was in danger, John was the target. Rose didn’t know why or how, but the Empress was targeting the boy currently flitting across the session with his zappy powers. Rose whipped a computer out from her Sylladex and rapidly messaged her friend, hoping against hope that she wasn’t already too late.

> tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB] at 6:12 p.m.  
>  ectoBiologist [EB] is offline.  
>  TT: John.  
>  ectoBiologist [EB] is offline.  
>  TT: I don’t know where you are, but you need to get out of there. Now.  
>  ectoBiologist [EB] is offline.  
>  TT: John, you had better have a computer on you right now.  
>  ectoBiologist [EB] is offline.  
>  TT: John!  
>  ectoBiologist [EB] is offline.  
>  TT: Are you even reading these?  
>  ectoBiologist [EB] is offline.  
>  TT: …  
>  ectoBiologist [EB] is offline.  
>  TT: John, please be alright.  
>  ectoBiologist [EB] can no longer respond.  
>  tentacleTherapist [TT] disconnected!

Little did the frustrated and frightened Rose know, John was somewhere very different than where he should have been and…shall we say…otherwise occupied. A mere minute or so in the past, the “windy boy” in question had been zapping about as easily as could be. He returned to the victory platform one last time to make sure he hadn’t missed anyone, finding it empty as he’d expected. His stomach churned with nerves – out of those present, only he and Roxy had personally seen what the Condesce was capable of, even if all he’d really witnessed was the aftermath.

The burn scars on the ground, the bleeding wounds in Rose’s torso, the dark look on Roxy’s face as she described watching Kanaya burn alive, Rose’s breaths slowing and then stopping altogether…all that was his burden alone to bear, but far from his only. John was, at best, on shaky ground. Repressing one’s true emotions, especially when they are as strong as those brought about by the bloodshed and loss that John had known and held back for the sheer length of time that John had held them has the power to tear a person to shreds. To his credit, John was a strong person, he had not yet broken nor buckled in the slightest under the weight. Only once had he even shown a slight of the storm brewing within, through a bit of yelling in a timeline that he himself had destroyed, saving nearly everyone and killing a couple alternate versions of people in the process, a fit that was now forgotten by Paradox Space itself – now only he remembered, or even knew it had ever happened.

It was nowhere near sufficient to excise the weight he already carried, even forgoing what he had since experienced. Most people cry and grieve in the moment when faced with loss and horror, or at the very least soon after, but John did not. Through action and transition, he hid it all under the veil of toxic-masculine strength where it festered, corroding away at his very soul like acid. All he needed was to be nudged in just the right way, and all would come unraveled in an instant. Her Imperious Condescension, in her age and unnatural power, knew that well. Furthermore, and more importantly, she knew just how to nudge him. Due to the difference in species, she couldn’t just unleash his anger and pain with her will, control him like she could a troll.

But she knew what could shatter every wall he that had worked so hard to build and keep. Something which, conveniently enough, lurked around the outer edges of every SBURB session, not more than a couple minute’s flight out from Derse itself. As John decaptchalogued his hammer and zapped again, all it took for the Condesce to set his undoing in motion was a little push against his fragile young mind. Instead of emerging from whatever realm he leapt though over wide, gilded purple streets, John appeared in the utter pitch blackness of Furthest Ring, surrounded by Horrorterrors and the croon of voices speaking in tongues that man was never meant to hear.

_**“ᏋᏒᏗᏉᎮፚᏒ, ᏉᏠᎧᏗᎦ. ᏋᏒ ᏠᏕᏰᏒ ᏕᏋᏕᎧᎩᏒᎦ ᏬᎮᎥ.”** _

John couldn’t escape. All it took was a single word, really, and the voices, thousandfold in their message, had ensnared him like a net ensconces a bird, tangling him in threads of horror beyond what any human should bear. He was paralyzed, afraid, but his powers wouldn’t respond to mere primal terror, and even the few words spoken to him had ripped away any hope of mental coherency.

_**“ᏬᎮᎥ ᏠᏕᏰᏒ ᎩᏖᏕᎤᎤᏒᎦ ᏬᎮᎥᏖᎴᏒᏗᎶ ᎧᎷ ᏬᎮᎥᏖ ᏠᏒᏕᏖᎩ ᎴᎮ ᏗᎮᎷᏂ...”** _

He couldn’t move, couldn’t fight, couldn’t do anything but listen as they kept speaking. He had no chance against them.

_**“ᏖᏇᏗ, ᏦᏬᏗᏒᏇᏰ ᏒᎥ ᎩᏗ. ᏦᏇᏒ ᏬᏒ ᎴᏋᏇᏇ, ᏂᎥᎶᏰ. ᎤᏇ ᏠᏰᎥᎤ ᏖᎥᎩ ᏝᏋᏇ ᎶᎩᏋᏒᏬᏰᎦ. ᏦᏇᏒ ᏒᎶᏇᏁ ᎴᏇᏇᏦ ᏬᏒ. ᏂᎥᎶᏰ, ᏁᏝᏠᏇ ᏒᎶᏇᏁ ᎧᏝᏖ ᎴᎥᏋ ᎤᎶᏝᏒ ᏒᎶᏇᏖ ᎶᏝፈᏇ ᎤᏋᎥᎩᎦᎶᏒ.”** _

John found that as he listened, he understood. He didn’t want to hear, but the words made themselves known anyways. He didn’t want to obey their commands, but his hand tightened on his hammer despite his best efforts – noble efforts they were, but he was attempting to resist beings beyond the human understanding. Really, he shouldn’t have bothered. All he did was prolong his pain.

_**“ᏗᎥ ᏁᎩጀᎶ ᎶᏝᏗ ᏉᏇᏇᏰ ᏕᎥᏰᏇ ᏒᎥ ᏖᎥᎩ, ᏂᎥᎶᏰ. ᏬᏒ ᏬᏗ ᏒᏬᏁᏇ, ᏂᎥᎶᏰ, ᏦᏇᏒ ᏖᎥᎩᏋ ᎴᏇᏇᏦᏬᏰᎦᏗ ᎴᏋᏇᏇ. ᏁᏝᏠᏇ ᏒᎶᏇᏁ ᎴᏇᏇᏦ ᏇፈᏇᏋᏖ ᎥᎩᏰጀᏇ ᎥᎴ ᏒᎶᏇ ᎧᏝᏬᏰ ᏖᎥᎩ ᎴᏇᏇᏦ. ᏒᏇᏦᏦ ᏒᎶᏇᏁ, ᏂᎥᎶᏰ, ᏗᎶᎥᎩᏒ ᏖᎥᎩᏋ ᏒᏋᎩᏇ ᎴᏇᏇᏦᏬᏰᎦᏗ ᏒᎥ ᏒᎶᏇ ᎤᎥᏋᏦᏕ, ᏒᎶᏇ ᏒᎶᏬᏰᎦᏗ ᏖᎥᎩ ᏕᎥᏰ'Ꮢ ᎤᏬᏗᎶ ᏒᎥ ᏠᏰᎥᎤ, ᏕᎥᏰ'Ꮢ ᎤᏬᏗᎶ ᏒᎥ ᎴᏇᏇᏦ.”** _

As he heard, he managed to shake his head with a truly Herculean effort, not even noticing the pinging of messages from the various computers stored in his Sylladex. John knew that they were wrong, that wasn’t who he was, he wouldn’t hurt anyone like that. The Horrorterrors were wrong, they had to be, he didn’t hate them. He wouldn’t do that! He…wouldn’t…would he? Could he?

_**“ᏇፈᏇᏋᏖᎥᏰᏇ ᎶᏝᏒᏇᏗ, ᏂᎥᎶᏰ, ᏕᏇᏇᎧ ᏬᏰ ᏒᎶᏇᏬᏋ ᏉᎥᏰᏇᏗ. ᏇፈᏇᏰ ᏖᎥᎩ, ᏖᎥᎩ ᏠᏬᏰᏕ ᏦᏬᏒᏒᏦᏇ ᏗᎥᎩᏦ. ᏦᏇᏒ ᏬᏒ ᏦᎥᎥᏗᏇ, ᏂᎥᎶᏰ. ᏬᏒ ᏬᏗ ᏒᏬᏁᏇ ᏒᎥ ᏗᏒᎥᎧ ᎶᏬᏕᏬᏰᎦ.”** _

But despite John’s struggles, the words of the eldritch beings washed over him in a choking tide, threatening to drown him in hatred and darkness. For all that they were above morality or emotion as humans knew them, the Horrorterrors had desires. They desired to see what would happen when John broke. They wanted to see him fall apart so they could count the pieces. He had power beyond even their own, and they wanted to see him use it. Like a river in a valley, their desires slowly washed away the person John was, depositing it somewhere hidden. In time, yes, or with death he would break free, but for now it was only a matter of time. Soon, very soon, he would stop fighting altogether, and the Heir of Breath would fall. Already, he was weak, thoughts sluggish, his personhood fading in the face of the beating wall of the Horrorterrors’ minds.

_**“ᎦᎥ, ᏂᎥᎶᏰ. ᎦᎥ, ᏝᏰᏕ ᏗᎶᎥᎤ ᎤᎶᎥ ᏖᎥᎩ ጀᎥᎩᏦᏕ ᏉᏇ.”** _

Not all that far away and only a matter of seconds earlier, Rose stared directly into the coldly smug gaze of Her Imperious Condescension. A headache had begun to ail her and had not yet abated. She knew that somewhere, something – or everything – was going wrong, and yet she could do absolutely nothing about it. For once in her life, Rose was utterly helpless in the face of what was happening. She didn’t much like the feeling. For a long moment, nothing changed – and then, as things do not wish to remain in stasis, the Condesce frowned, moving her hand, pressing it harder against her head as though that would somehow help her control the situation. Her expression quickly sank into focused displeasure, then farther, into worry. She looked briefly away from Rose and then back, expression shifting to one of utter horror as all her plans crashed and shattered, shredded by the whims of beings much more powerful than she was.

“Oh no.”

The words rang out across the silent Dersite plaza, intruding on the pregnant silence in much the way that an abrupt torrent of blood intrudes on the joy of a pregnant woman, and a shudder went through Rose’s form. As every genre-savvy protagonist knew, nothing good ever followed those words, almost no matter who said them. Even in this situation, even coming from a villain, Rose didn’t need the abilities of a God-Tier Light-bound to know that those words meant major trouble. As if on cue, the entirety of Derse shook with a crack of thunder and a flash of deep blue lightning. Rose’s gaze trailed up to the sky and she froze like a deer caught in the light of the apocalypse. Eclipsing her entire view was something she’d seen only once before – and at that time, been at the epicenter of. Tendrils and clouds of pure darkness blotted out the cheerful blue light of Skaia and the gentle violet glow of the Dersite towers, plunging the group into deep shadow as they swirled into a tornado that slowly reached downwards like the hand of an angry God – unhurried because it knew that there was no escape.

Rose didn’t quite want to look, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away. At the very eye of the storm, slowly descending towards them, was a frighteningly familiar yet twisted figure. His hair had turned pure white as had his eyes, both emitting a frightening, brilliant white glow. The symbol on the chest of his now-black God Tier outfit likewise glowed harshly white. His skin had been seemingly stained a dark, ashy gray, and the hammer he held had also dulled from pink to gray-black. Rose froze in total horror. She hadn’t known this was possible, not now, not for a Prospit dreamer, and most of all not for John. Everything she knew about her friend told her that he would never fall this far. Rose knew that John was stable, casual, unbothered by the greatest of losses and struggles – and yet here he was, having gone off the deep end in every possible way, trapped in the stubborn broodfester throes like a fly in amber. Indeed, the worst had come upon them.

#### John had officially gone Grimdark.

**Author's Note:**

> Broodfester Translations:
> 
> “Eravpzr, vjoaf. Er jsbr sesoyrf upi.”  
> ...  
> "Welcome, child. We have awaited you.”
> 
> “Upi jsbr ytsqqrf upitdrag om upit jrsty dp apmh...”  
> ...  
> “You have trapped yourself in your heart so long...”
> 
> “Twa, kuarwb ri ya. Kwr ur deww, higb. Qw jbiq tiy lew gyerubf. Kwr rgwn dwwk ur. Higb, nljw rgwn olt die qglr rgwt glcw qeiyfgr.”  
> ...  
> “Yes, listen to us. Let it free, John. We know you are hurting. Let them feel it. John, make them pay for what they have wrought.”
> 
> “Ai nyxg gla vwwb sibw ri tiy, higb. Ur ua runw, higb, kwr tiye dwwkubfa deww. Nljw rgwn dwwk wcwet iybxw id rgw olub tiy dwwk. Rwkk rgwn, higb, agiyr tiye reyw dwwkubfa ri rgw qieks, rgw rgubfa tiy sib'r quag ri jbiq, sib'r quag ri dwwk.”  
> ...  
> “So much has been done to you, John. It is time, John, let your feelings free. Make them feel every ounce of the pain you feel. Tell them, John, shout your true feelings to the world, the things you don't wish to know, don't wish to feel.”
> 
> “Wcwetibw glrwa, higb, swwo ub rgwue vibwa. Wcwb tiy, tiy jubs kurrkw aiyk. Kwr ur kiiaw, higb. Ur ua runw ri ario gusubf.”  
> ...  
> “Everyone hates, John, deep in their bones. Even you, you kind little soul. Let it loose, john. It is time to stop hiding.”
> 
> “Fi, higb. Fi, lbs agiq qgi tiy xiyks vw.”  
> ...  
> “Go, John. Go, and show who you could be.”
> 
> Used this translator: https://lingojam.com/Homestuck-Grimdark


End file.
